Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2010 Kleen Products Llc Versus Packaging Corp of America	Sep. 30, 2012 Kleen Products Llc Versus Packaging Corp of America LegalMatter	Oct. 31, 2012 Tepper Versus Temple Inland	Sep. 30, 2012 Cass Lake, Minnesota	Jun. 30, 2011 Cass Lake, Minnesota	Sep. 30, 2012 Kalamazoo River Superfund Site	Oct. 31, 2012 San Jacinto River Superfund Site Plaintiffs LegalMatter	Dec. 31, 2011 San Jacinto River Superfund Site	Sep. 30, 2012 Bogalusa Louisiana	Sep. 30, 2012 Bogalusa Louisiana Payment of Fines	Sep. 30, 2012 Louisiana and Mississippi Bogalusa Louisiana LegalMatter	Sep. 30, 2012 Louisiana Bogalusa Louisiana LegalMatter	Sep. 30, 2012 Class of Actions Louisiana and Mississippi Bogalusa Louisiana LegalMatter	Oct. 31, 2012 Trustee of Guaranty Financial Group Tepper Versus Temple Inland	Oct. 31, 2012 FDIC Tepper Versus Temple Inland
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Estimated remedial costs with a probable liability	$ 95,000,000
Accrual for loss contingencies					49,000,000	46,000,000
Environmental remediation on closed or formerly-owned facilities, recorded as liabilities in balance sheet	45,000,000
Potential remediation costs							79,000,000
Potential civil penalties per day, minimum									50
Potential civil penalties per day, maximum									25,000
Number of plaintiffs seeking damages								200
Number of Law Suits Previously Filed								3
Amount of claims settled				80,000,000						1,000,000					38,000,000	42,000,000
Expected civil enformcement penalty											1,000,000
Number of lawsuits company named a defendant												24	15
New claims filed during the period														13
Number of manufacturers alleged as violation of act		8
Number of similar complaints filed			4
Potential loss due to unfavorable decision in Brazilian tax court	$ 31,000,000